Short answer: If you want a video lesson from a document with the source visible under every scene, that is Zıpır; if you want to chat with your documents and research them, that is NotebookLM. The citations in NotebookLM's chat answers lead to the quote in the source. Zıpır makes a narrated, subtitled video from a document and writes the page and line of every sentence. The two do different jobs; the comparison rests on Google's own help pages.
What is the difference between Zıpır and NotebookLM?
NotebookLM is Google's tool for chatting with your documents; Google's help pages now also call it “Gemini Notebook”. You add sources and ask questions. According to Google, selecting a citation in a chat answer takes you to the quote in the source; source types such as PDF, Word, audio and web pages can be added, and each source can be at most 500,000 words or 200 MB. Zıpır does a different job: it turns a single document (in the example, the 28-page 6331.pdf) into a narrated, subtitled video. Every sentence on screen is a quote from the document and its page and line are written under the scene. One is for asking questions, the other for preparing a lesson to be told. In NotebookLM the answer rests on its sources; Google's FAQ page says that if the information is not in the source material, no answer is given. In Zıpır the output is not a chat but a video that is left in your hands at the end: you send it to a viewer, share it by link or add it to your course. In short, one asks questions of your documents, the other turns your document into a lesson everyone can watch and tells it.
Which one fits a video lesson that cites its sources?
The test is where the source will appear. In Zıpır the source is inside the video: a “SOURCE” line sits under every scene, and when the video is done a proof report lists every sentence with its place in the document. No video is made until you approve the scene plan; if a quote cannot be found in the source, its scene is not made at all. In the example video this sentence is shown that way:
“İşveren, iş sağlığı ve güvenliği tedbirlerinin maliyetini çalışanlara yansıtamaz.”
6331.pdf, s. 4, satır 6
In English (our rendering): “The employer cannot pass the cost of occupational health and safety measures on to employees.” Source: 6331.pdf, p. 4, line 6.
We could not verify from Google's help pages how the source appears in NotebookLM's video outputs, so we make no comparison on that. If you need to show the viewer the source in the video itself, that is exactly what Zıpır does. When a training manager asks while watching, “where does this sentence come from?”, the answer is written on screen; the viewer opens the document and goes to the page and line. The source does not sit in another tool or another file, it is inside the video and goes wherever the video goes. The proof report gives the same thing as a table: every sentence, its place in the document and a “found in the source” label. The person doing an audit works with this table.
Which one should I use when?
If you have several documents and will ask questions like “what do these two regulations say about this?”, NotebookLM's chat fits; Zıpır does not do question-and-answer across documents. If you want employees or students to watch a law, a procedure or a manual and the viewer should see the source of every sentence, Zıpır fits. When making a training video from legislation, Zıpır does not interpret the text, it quotes it, and it gives no legal opinion. There is no harm in researching the document with NotebookLM first and then uploading the same document to Zıpır to make its video. Whichever you choose, neither tool verifies for you that the source document itself is current and correct. To decide, ask yourself: who will see the output? If only you will read it, a chat is enough; if it will be watched by others and the source has to stay on screen, you need a video. In an in-house training or in a student group, that question makes the decision by itself. The two uses do not exclude each other; the same team can have a place for both.
How do the prices compare?
Zıpır is priced per finished video minute, in Turkish lira with VAT included. Studio is ₺990 a month with 15 finished video minutes, Team is ₺3.490 a month with 60 minutes. Revisions do not take minutes. NotebookLM's plans, source counts and usage limits are described on Google's plan page and can change over time; we do not write Google's prices here. Because the two tools make different things the prices cannot be compared one to one: one sells a chat session, the other a finished video minute. All of Zıpır's prices, with the extra minute packs, are on the pricing page. The surest way to compare is to try both tools on the same document and weigh what comes out against your own need; the numbers on the page do not replace that, they only let you know in advance what you will pay and spare you a surprise. The pricing page also says what each plan includes and what yearly payment comes to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Zıpır and NotebookLM?
NotebookLM is a research notebook where you chat with your documents; Zıpır makes a narrated video with source lines from a document.
Which one fits a video lesson that cites its sources?
If the source has to appear inside the video, under every scene, Zıpır. If a cited answer in a chat is enough, NotebookLM.
Can I use the two together?
Yes. You can research the document with NotebookLM first, then upload the same document to Zıpır and make its video.
How do the prices compare?
Zıpır's prices are per finished video minute and are on the pricing page. For NotebookLM's plans, look at Google's plan page.
Related guides
- How to make a video lesson that cites its sources
- How to turn a PDF into a lesson video
- How to make a training video from legislation (OHS, KVKK)
- How to explain a dull legal document in a video
- OHS training video: which documents do you need?
- How to make a video lesson from a law PDF (step by step)
- Why should a training video show the source of every sentence?
- How to prepare a lecture video from your notes, step by step
- Proof: every claim of a video sits in its source
- What is Zıpır?